Love Letters
by tiggerjojo
Summary: chap. five is up! A love letter, never meant to be delivered, dropped upon the snowy ground and found by the one for whom it was meant sets in motion the birth of an love bound in fate. HD slash
1. Love Letters

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Love Letters

The winter night embraced him as he stepped out into the cold and away from the looming castle whence he came. Above him the full moon shone through a gap in the clouds and snow began to fall clinging to his raven locks and speckling it white like the stars in the sky. He stopped at the edge of the lake the falling flakes melting as they touched the black waters. Looking at the lake surface was to look at the sky above and the snow falling to meet the water created an eternal falling. 

****

Harry breathed out slowly watching his breath billow out and rise to the stars. It was the years first snow and as he stood silent in the dark all others remained safe and warm inside, eating their dinners, talking excitedly about the coming holiday. The phrase that always came to Harry's mind at times like these was, take the time to smell the roses. The first snow fall certainly wasn't a bush of roses but still so beautiful and so many just ignore it as common place. They go along and worry about assignments, friends, girlfriends, boyfriends, and time, time, time. Time to get up, breakfast time, time for class, lunchtime, dinnertime, time to do homework, bedtime. Meanwhile they miss the world outside, give it only a passing glance and forget about it, until it's gone they forget about it.

Harry knew that the only reason he noticed was because he knew the uncertainty of his own life. He knew that today might be the day he was killed or tomorrow. No one really knows where Voldemort is, no one knows where he might strike next only that he will strike and for certain Harry Potter would one of the ones to die.

Harry ran his hand through his too long hair, he had preferred to let it grow out rather than let his aunt butcher it and those were really the only two options he had over the summer. He could have Hermione cut his hair for him now but he had become fond of it. It was almost like a testament that he was still alive and that in each new day he could grow, if nothing else, a tiny length of hair. It was his timeline, his reality.

He pushed aside such depressing thoughts and tried to concentrate on falling snow once more. He went to push his glasses up and stopped halfway, dropping his hand. He didn't have glasses anymore he reminded himself silently. Dumbledore had given Harry no choice. He had explained his reasons by saying that in a duel, fight, battle, a wizard who lost his glasses or they were destroyed and couldn't see his enemy or lost precious moments trying to repair them was often a dead wizard and that they couldn't afford to lose him. To Harry, it didn't matter how he explained it, it was still like losing a part of himself that was always there before. 

Harry's reminiscing was cut short as he felt something, or rather someone, run into him. He turned slowly to find himself a crumpled figure sitting heavily on the wet ground.

"You should be more careful where you're going in the dark," Harry said lightly, holding out a hand.

The eyes that looked up and met his were of steel and flint, cold and hard and yet still managed to looked shocked and startled by their collision.

Harry perked his eyebrow, "Malfoy, curious to see you out here." he reached down and deftly snatched Draco's hand before the other boy could protest and pulled him to his feet.

Harry then turned away and returned his regard to the lake once more, "It's beautiful isn't it?" he asked softly, expecting either a cutting remark back or to be only talking to himself. 

"Yes…" came the faint response.

"May I ask," Harry ventured, as he shifted his gaze from the lake surface to the sky above, "what you are doing out?"

"I could ask you the same thing, Potter." Draco shot back, though it seemed to Harry to be more reflex then something he actually intended to say.

Harry sighed, releasing another cloud of mist into the air, he reached up and absently passing his hand through it, grabbing at nothing as the mist dissipated in the cold air, "I'm here because it's the first snow fall of the year." He turned and looked at Draco, meeting his bemused expression with a wry grin, "It only happens once a year and it's always more beautiful than any after it, especially at night. You have to take the time to smell the roses because one day they may be gone forever and you never know what you had until it's gone."

Harry studied Draco's expression silently, a second passed frozen in time, endless, unbroken and Harry wondered silently what allowed them to talk like this, like acquaintances that could be friends if they were able. But that second shattered and a fleeting expression that Harry couldn't comprehend crossed Draco's face then he bolted, running swiftly back to the safety of the castle walls. His shadow stretched across the lights cast by the castle walls until it disappeared as he was consumed by the castles' ravenous mouth.

Harry began following slowly behind, his cloak was beginning soak through and his hair was now absorbing snowflakes rather than holding them. He felt saddened by Draco's sudden departure, why he couldn't exactly place. It had felt as if they were really connecting, that perhaps they could escape their old animosities and call a truce, to treat each other like equals without fighting constantly. Too much to hope for from one chance meeting, especially with Malfoy. Harry stopped suddenly as a white square of parchment caught his eye, illuminated by the castle light before his feet. 

He stooped down and picked it up gingerly, studying it as best as he could in the poor light given by the school and the moon above. He quickly gave up, the light afforded no help and the snow would destroy the parchment before long. He held it under his cloak and hurried his pace to the castle. 

Inside Harry sped down the halls, dreadfully aware that if he was caught out at this time of night he would never be let out except for classes and maybe meals. Dumbledore had his reasons and explanations, that it was all for his good, to keep him safe, protect him but when it came down to it they were holding him hostage, like putting tigers in a zoo to save them from extinction. True they are safe but they have lost their freedom. They are controlled and imprisoned, no choices are given to them but are made for them, all for what is best for the animal but what would the tiger want? Not what it needs but what it wants, take away any creature's freewill and you are left with only a hollow shell of what once was. That's what they did to Harry without even realizing it and Harry could do nothing against it. Every passing day it became harder and harder for time to smell the roses because the noose grew tighter and the bars closer spaced. They were killing him themselves.

He came to the portrait leading to his private room that only he and the headmaster can enter, others have to be let in and only on the will of the two previously mentioned. The room had been decorated warmly as if in some desperate effort to make the cage more comfortable. Harry had long ago removed the crimson and gold hangings, charmed the sheets and remaining furniture to various non clashing colors, so long as they were in no way related to the school or the war. The room didn't even have a window, just two chairs before a fireplace, a bed to the wall and a door leading to the privy. 

Harry pulled the square of parchment out again and tossed his cloak over the back of one chair. Slumping onto the other chair he began studying the parchment once more. On the front a name was written, though stained and smeared Harry still managed to make it out as his own. He wondered who would write to him and drop it outside? Surly not Draco. Why would he write to Harry? Since the letter was addressed to him, though perhaps never intended to be delivered, he cautiously opened it to the writing inside. 

The parchment itself was creased from being read repeatedly and the wrinkled as it the person who had wrote it had intended to throw it away but had retrieved it. One edge was singed black where the writer had once again tried to destroy it by means of fire. 

Turning his attention to the script he noted immediately the delicate flowing script and fine edge to the style in which it was written. Harry and only seen one other person write like that and that was Draco Malfoy. He once boasted of his penmanship to Snape's entire class once he had seen Harry's own sloppy excuse for writing, he even had Harry compare it himself when he doubt Draco's boast. The anger and embarrassment at the time had burned the memory into his mind, it was easily recalled and comparisons made between the two writings. Harry concluded that it was indeed Draco's writing and wonder what had persuaded him to write to Harry, why and why he had kept it after trying to destroy it so many times. Was he unable to decide whether to send it and yet unable to destroy it? But what is so powerful that it would affect a person like that?

Then he began to read and this is what that fated letter said-

_Every day,_

I write you love letters in my mind

But for some reason,

when I'm with you,

I can never find the words 

to tell you what's in my heart.

Everyday, I think of you while we're apart

and I discover

Something about you 

that makes me love you even more.

But when we're together;

I get so caught up in the moment,

I forget everything

I've been saving up to tell you and today

I want to tell you that,

even though I'm not always good 

about sharing my feelings with words,

in my heart I write you

a love letter

every single day.*

Harry was dumbfounded, nothing could have prepared him for the contents of the letter. That was why Draco hadn't sent it, wasn't able to destroy it. The parchment fell from his nerveless fingers, drifting to the floor and glaring up at Harry almost as if to reprimand him. He tried to digest the information, tried to rationalize it, to say that Malfoy had gone mad or simply wished to lure him in but something more, deep within Harry's gut said something else. When ever he tried to turn the contents of the letter against Malfoy he remembered those few minutes at the lake.

Then Draco had been quiet and confused, when he had bolted, had it been a flush of color and embarrassment that had chanced his face before he had sped away? There were other times as well, times when Harry had caught Draco staring at him, but not in hatred, something else. Then, in those looks had it been the love he expressed in the letter? 

Another thought invaded Harry's thoughts and forced its way to surface, demanding all attention. Surely he was shocked by the thought that Draco Malfoy loved him but that was because he thought hell would freeze over first. Other than that he wasn't disgusted by it, he felt no additional anger towards Draco, rather he felt all his anger melting away and he found himself searching all his memories for those infrequent unprotected moments that Draco had let out. He then had to search his own feelings. 

All Harry's previous relationships had never worked out, all with women, it seemed with most of them when it came down to it he felt nothing for them. They were all women. Would, could it be possible to find a relationship with a…man? Harry had never even considered it before. The idea shocked him but he felt little revulsion. The more he mused about it the more easily it became to imagine it. Draco wasn't unappealing to the eye, quite the opposite, the poor boy was absolutely gorgeous. Women flocked to him like the birds they were and from all appearance and of rumors he had a different girlfriend almost every week and one or more in his bed every night. Lies or a clever cover up? 

Harry started, bolting up. Someone was pounding on the portrait outside. He went to the entrance, pausing for a moment before opening the portrait. He knew who was outside, Draco. Who else would come pounding on his portrait this late in the night? No one but the one who wrote that letter and just realized that they had lost it. He opened the portrait and found himself face to face with the very one he expected to find.

Draco's face was flooded with furry and worry, snow clung to him and the knees of his pants were soaked and mud stained. He had gone outside and searched and found nothing. Harry wondered how long it had taken him to think that Harry might have picked it up.

"Come in." Harry said.

Draco did so, swinging around when the portrait slammed shut behind him. Harry walked around to the front of the chair he had been sitting in earlier and picked up the letter from the ground.

"This is what you're looking for isn't it?" Harry held up the letter for Draco to see.

Draco's eyes widened in horror, "You read it?"

Harry nodded as he carefully began refolding it.

"I didn't write it, I found it, its from someone else that had this stupid crush on you, I kept it to blackmail them for it…"

"It's your handwriting, Malfoy." Harry stated flatly, turning away and slipping the letter into the drawer of his beside table. When he turned around Dracos's face was pale and his expression frozen.

Harry walked over to him and led him to a chair, Draco gave not resistance but allowed himself to be directed and when he sat in the chair he covered his face with his hands. 

"Did you mean it?" Harry asked softly sitting down in the other chair.

"What do you think!?" Draco snapped angrily, "You weren't supposed to know!" he moaned in dismay.

"Are you afraid of falling in love with me?" Harry asked cautiously.

"No," Draco sighed in defeat, refusing to look Harry in the eye, "I'm not afraid of falling in love with you. I'm just afraid of you not loving me back."

*poem by Renee Duvall

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	2. Second Chances

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Second Chances 

Harry took a deep breath and focused his eyes on the fireplace before his chair.

"I think I should leave now." Draco said softly, standing and retreating to the portrait entrance.

Harry bit his lip and said nothing. 

"It's gone, the door's gone." Draco's voice carried back in disbelief. 

Harry's head jerked up in surprise, he glanced at the clock over the mantle and shook his head. He half laughed and looked back at Draco, "It's eight o'clock. The portrait seals at eight and doesn't open until seven the next morning. Dumbldore says I should be thankful for the hour of free time he allows me after dinner. I had forgotten…." he trailed off, his eyes misting over, he turned away.

"You're locked in? You mean that old geezer actually locks you in your room at night?" Draco muttered angrily.

"He says it's in my best interest, to keep me safe, in everyone's best interest," Harry replied softly, his voice heavily laced with sarcasm, "I'm not allowed to talk to anyone outside the order, I can't go outside the castle, I must study all my lessons twice along with completing the extra lessons assigned by the headmaster…." ,he trailed off for a moment before whispering softly, his voice laden with suppressed grief, "What I want doesn't matter, what I need doesn't matter. I must always put the fate of humanity above myself, I am just a tool to be welded and the hand that holds me or destroys me, in Voldemort's case, will be the victor."

Draco returned, standing behind the chair across from Harry, he watched Harry for a moment in silence, the firelight dancing in his eyes. 

"….I'm sorry." Draco said, averting his eyes.

Harry smiled and tried to catch Draco's eyes, when finally Draco turned to look at Harry he found the raven haired boy staring at him with startling intensity. He couldn't stop his feelings and his face burned, he knew he was flushing and he wished more than anything he wasn't but then again, Harry already knew, there was nothing to hide and only the shame remained. 

Draco had wished for anything over what had been given to him, he had begged gods he didn't believe in and fates that surly couldn't exist but it had yielded nothing. What could possibly be crueler than to fall in love with your enemy? To fall in love at all was a great weakness that couldn't be afforded in his father's eyes but, with Potter? May the gods forgive his very existence for that sin. He had fought it off at first or tried to. He had tried to twist it and put it to his advantage, to deceive Harry, but the thought of hurting Harry hurt even more than pretending that he had no feelings for the boy. Every time they met in the halls, every mocking word and tactless insult hurt him more than the one it was aimed at. For every time he said something that truly hurt Potter, the pain and anger shone through his eyes, it was like struck himself with every blow.

Draco had even taken to avoiding Harry when ever possible and those few times that he had found himself in proximity to Harry he would turn up his nose and brush by him as if he were superior and it hurt. It all hurt and it should for it went against everything he had been taught and the most importantly it took away his control. 

Draco needed to be in control, he thrived on it. He controlled his life, his friends, and through magic he could manipulate his very environment to suit him. Harry had been the one thing that he had never been able to control and that was the one thing that irked him most of all. From the moment that Harry refused his friendship on the train he had lost control. From there it had only become worse, he tried to force Harry down with insults and tactless tricks but Harry met his words and pushed back. Then Draco had fallen in love, with his enemy. He hadn't known what the feeling was at first and that in itself bothered him but when he couldn't control it and suppressing it seemed to only amplify it, he felt himself losing the most important thing he could imagine at the time. He was losing control of himself. It was one thing to not be able to control Potter but to lose control of his feelings and his mind, even his body. It almost drove him mad, perhaps it succeeded. 

Then came the night that he gave up. He quit trying to fight it and in giving into it he found something both wonderful and horrid. By allowing himself to be in love he gained back control to some extent but then found that it only hurt more. So he fell in love with his enemy and accepted it but it changed nothing about how his enemy felt, it changed nothing about what was expected of them, how they were supposed to treat each other, to be enemies. That's when he wrote the letter. He tried to throw it away so many times, knowing the danger of someone finding it but he couldn't. Once he threw it into the fire but broke before the parchment had even caught very well he reached back into the fire, burning his hand and arm, to retrieve it. It was the only proof he had of his feelings, the only solid evidence that everyday wasn't a bitter dream with little in it to sweeten it. 

Now here I stand, Draco thought darkly, locked in the same room with my enemy who knows everything, what I feel for him. The only thing worse than the cruelty or blackmail he could impose upon me would be pity or disgust. 

So Draco stood, unable to break his gave from Harry's wondering desperately what he would do, what he was thinking, forcing himself to remain calm, to try and still the diminutive tremors slipping through his body and keep his legs from giving out from under him. 

"What are you thinking?" Harry asked, breaking the silence so suddenly it fell brutally.

"That you hate me." Draco replied, unwilling to tell him anything more.

Harry shook his head, "I don't hate you….I don't know how I feel about you."

"Are you going to blackmail me?" Draco asked apprehensively 

"No." Harry answered flatly.

"You think I'm disgusting, you pity me." Draco nervously swallowed down the bile churning I his throat.

"No."

"Why?!" Draco demand, gripping the back of the chair until his fingers turned white, he now leaned most of his weight upon the chair to keep upright and felt cold, "I've done nothing to gain your kindness! I've insulted you, your family and your friends! I hurt you and mock you! My father is a deatheater and I have done nothing to prove otherwise! All you have is a single bloody love letter and you suddenly forgive me?!"

Irrational anger took the place of fear and embarrassment. He struck out because he felt threatened and it was the only thing he knew how to do. All the while his mind cried in anguish because he killed every possible hope in his being. There was no possibility of a future with Harry in it. How could there be? How could the boy even consider it after all the things Draco had done?

"I don't know why! Do I have to have a reason?!" Harry snapped back, standing up from his chair, "I can't even talk to my best friends anymore unless it's in classes and that's disruptive or during meals and it's too loud and I have to try and eat at the same time or starve! I have no one! Is it so difficult for you to accept that there isn't a reason? We're stuck here together here for a single night, can't we talk like civilized human beings, pretend that we don't hate each other?!" Harry shouted in frustration, gesturing angrily at the wavering Draco. 

He stopped as a line of blood escaped Draco's mouth and slipped down his chin from where he had bitten his lip; he noticed how pale Draco was, "Malfoy, sit down for gods sake before you pass out!" He reached out and grabbed Draco's arm to support him to a chair but Draco slapped his hand away.

"Don't touch me!" He snapped, pushing himself off the chair to face Harry.

Harry grabbed the front of Draco's shirt and pulled him to himself, their mouths met and Draco found himself being kissed deeply, gently by the one he thought would never even give him the time of day. They parted slowly, Harry backing away until he ran into the chair behind him and he could taste Draco's blood in his mouth.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking…" Harry said softly.

Draco slipped around the chair and sat heavily, his fingers went to his lips, he looked up at Harry. Harry pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to Draco who took it mechanically and wiped the blood from his chin. They sat in silence, the clock on the mantle ticking softly and the popping fire the only noise in the room. 

Draco kept his eyes on his lap, tugging at Harry's handkerchief crumpled on his hand. Across from him Harry sat with his eyes to the fire. 

Harry could feel his heart racing, he wasn't sure what had happened to be honest. One minute he simply wished to help Draco to a chair and then when Draco had slapped his hand away, Harry could see his sharp grey eyes and the way his hair fell. He wondered what it would be like to touch that pale porcelain skin, to kiss him. He had wanted to know what it would feel like, if he could feel for Draco the way he claimed to have felt for him. Perhaps he could blame it all on loneliness or desperation for any kind of human affection. Whatever the reason, he kissed Draco and he had liked it. It was strange and left behind it a warmth in the pit of his stomach that fluttered like the way he had felt when he had had that crush on Cho. One thing for sure he felt no regret or disgust and watching Draco sitting, his face pale, hands clenched, it hurt Harry though it had no reason to.

Draco could still feel Harry's lips against his own. He felt as if he would die. He had never felt this way before. The love that he experienced before had only been filled with pain and the knowledge that his love would come to nothing and it would probably be better that way. Now he had hope, how ever dislocated. 

Harry sighed and looked at Draco, the fire dancing off his hair like spun silk, he stood up and gently helped him to his feet and led him to the bed.

"What?…" Draco said softly, resisting slightly.

Harry smiled, hesitantly, "It's my fault you're stuck here so I offer you my bed. You look like you're going to drop over any second. It won't kill me to sleep in the chair and I won't take no for an answer."

Draco sat on the edge of the bed in defeat and slowly removed his shoes. Harry was about to return to the fireside when Draco grabbed his sleeve and held him back, "You could share the bed with me." Harry turned back to look at Draco. Draco's eyes remained averted to the bedspread, his face flushed bright red. 

Harry nodded, cautiously. When the fire had been banked and the room was dark, the two of them lying as far as physically possible from each other on the small bed. Draco's breathing had long since deepened into sleep and Harry had turned carefully to face him. He watched in silence, the slow rise and fall of Draco's chest, the flutter of his eyelids caught in dreams unknown. Harry wondered silently what was happening to him. Could it be possible that he was falling in love with Draco? He didn't know and before he could think anymore on it he was claimed by sleep.

The morning broke over Harry and a glance at the clock show that he was late for breakfast and if he didn't hurry he wouldn't get anything to eat till lunch. Halfway through dressing he remembered the night before and stopped. Draco had left already, his shoes gone, nothing left to even prove that he had been there. Then out of the corner of his eye he spotted a piece of parchment lying on his bedside table. He went over to the table and picked it up, the parchment crisp in his hand. He instantly recognized the elegant script as Draco's and smiled to himself.

__

Harry,

You ask me if I love you,

and I ask myself how to begin

to share with you

the feelings in my heart.

You inspire in me

a love so deep, 

words cannot describe it,

so powerful that it overwhelms 

my every thought.

You ask me if I love you,

and I wish there were a way

you could just see into my soul

and find the depth of passion

tenderness, and love

that holds you close

to my heart

than anyone or anything else.

You ask me if I love you,

and I look into the magic

of your eyes and promise,

"Yes, I love you…

and I always will." **

Draco

Harry sighed and smiled. He felt the flutter in his stomach return and knew that nothing would ever be the same again because he was falling in love Draco Malfoy.

**poem by Jeannie Hund


	3. Broken

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Broken

Harry skipped every other step as he raced down to the dining hall, his tie clamped in his teeth and only one arm in his robe. He forgot about the disappearing step and was forced to take a third step or fall through and nearly did so anyway. Skidding through the dining halls door he pulled his robe on and flung his tie around his neck. As he walked towards his friends he pulled his hair out he deftly tided it back into a ponytail. By the time he had reached the dining hall almost everyone had already finished and tables were half empty, those that were left ate quickly and few talked leaving the hall eerily quiet. Harry grabbed a piece of toast as he sat, Hermione leaning over and tying his tie as he quickly ate. 

Ron handed him a glass of juice shaking his head, "You know you could always try and just get up on time."

"Or go to bed earlier." Hermione input helpfully as she finished with his tie, "There, now you're set for class."

"Thanks Herm." Harry said smiling, "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Go to class with a crooked tie." Hermione said playfully but Harry wasn't listening, he was looking across the hall. 

Draco looked up from his parchment where he was hastily scribbling an assignment that he needed to turn in the next that day and found Harry looking at him. When their eyes met Harry smiled and Draco ducked his head as a flush rose to his cheeks. He felt his hopes rising where they had no right to and yet he wanted it to be everything.

The soft chime for the start of classes echoed through the castle like a mournful song that faded into the reality. Draco gathered his things and hurried to Potions, anxious because he knew that Harry had that class with him. Harry and his friends and Draco and his friends. Such horrible things could happen and Draco wasn't sure, if the time came, which side he should stand to. Could he even fathom risking everything just for his own foolish desires? Then again, all he risked was himself and that he risked already just as it was. 

He sat down in the dank classroom choosing a seat as far away from the front of the class as he could, he didn't want any attention to be drawn to him. He needed time to think. Others filed in following Draco, filling the room with an overwhelming sense of presence. The Slytherins sat at the same row as he, abet leaving a gap between themselves and Draco. They had learned over time when it was best to leave Draco alone. No one else sat by him because of who he was and as a result when Harry finally entered the room, seconds before the bell rang, the only place remaining for him and his comrades to sit was by Draco.

Draco looked up at the three. Hermione and Ron could only manage to look disgusted at their predicament while Harry only looked down and met Draco's eyes with a smile upon his lips. 

"May I sit here?" Harry asked quietly and even so it seemed to amplify to a hundred fold and everyone turned to watch, everyone waited for the conflict they assumed to come.

Draco took a deep breath, chewing on his lip absently before he nodded and hesitantly gestured to the seat beside him. Harry slipped into the seat just as Snape entered the room, Hermione and Ron sitting across from the two hurriedly at his entrance so as not to be reprimanded. Soon the entire class's attention was diverted to the front as Snape started his lesson. 

Harry only listened vaguely, recognizing the potion Snape was talking about from his summer reading, and instead watched the boy sitting next to him. Draco's attention was riveted to the front, his quill scratching away furiously as he took notes. Harry noted that his notes were perfect just like the rest of his writing and not only the penmanship but that he seemed to write down even the minutest detail and all the while he never actually looked at what he was writing, his eyes scanning the board at the front and all else. Harry shifted his gaze and refocused it upon Draco's face, marveling at it's sculpted lines and pale skin. He mused that Draco would be better suited for a gallery than a dungeon like this one. Several hairs drifted down from his maticulate slicked back hair and drifted down into his eyes, he pushed them back instinctively.

"You may now begin, your partners for this experiment will be the one you sat beside, now get to work before I stop feeling so generous." Snape said coldly as he disappeared into his office. 

Draco turned and found himself once again under Harry penetrating gaze, "Don't you have something better to do than stare at me?" he asked quietly.

Harry pursed his lips, "Nope."

"Oh" ,Draco said and turned away, focusing his attention on Hermione in front of him.

She looked up from her ingredients and glared at him, "What do you want, Malfoy?"

Draco started to reply them cut short and looked back over at Harry who was watching him still, "Maybe we should get started?" Draco said as he began sorting ingredients.

"Certainly," Harry replied easily, " I'm no good at potions, as you well know, so if you could just direct me as to what you want me to do it would be a lot easier than me trying to figure out what I'm supposed to do on my own."

"You're going to let him order you around?" Ron bridled.

Harry frowned in confusion, "Why not? I can't afford to screw up my grades anymore, there's no point in being stubborn for some imaginary stake on my pride."

Draco coughed light, instantly diverting their attention back to him, "Um, could you get a bulb of werewolf's bane from the herb drawers? We're one short."

"Sure" Harry replied shortly, slipping from his seat next to Draco he made his way to get the bulb.

To Draco's left Pansy worked with Blaise or more accurately, Blaise worked while Pansy cast around in boredom. 

She leaned over onto Draco, "Where were you last night, Dacy-poo?" she said in her nasally, baby voice, "you didn't come back after you went outside."

Draco squirmed and finally shoved Pansy off of himself, "It's none of your business and don't touch me."

"Dracy-poo!" she wailed, tugging on Draco's robe, "You were with someone weren't you! You were seeing someone and not me!"

Now the most of the class was watching, their attentions drawn by Pansy's irritating voice.

"Yes, I was with someone and to be honest I would rather spend time in a morgue with a corpse as my only company rather than you." Draco snapped, pulling his robe away from her.

Pansy sat fish faced for several moments as if she couldn't believe what Draco had said and probably didn't.

"But, but I'm your fiancé, you can't be with anyone else! Only me!" She cried, her reaction best described in kind to that of a child having a temper tantrum. 

Draco watched her darkly, "It was an arranged marriage and I was two years old at the time and really had no say in the matter, now I do and I would sooner marry a pig of which you are a very close likeness, only pigs aren't as disgusting."

"What?" she gasped in dismay, then it was as if a balloon had popped and she was screaming and crying and she beat upon Draco's arm with her fists. Everyone in the class that wasn't a Slytherin laughed at the two. Draco tried to move away from her but couldn't do so and protect himself from her flailing fists at the same time. Then Harry was there, he placed the bulb he had been sent to get upon the table and grabbed Pansy's flailing arms and pushed her back allowing Draco to back away from her. 

The noise attracted the attention of Snape who stormed out of his office and took the situation the way he liked it best, which was always in Harry's worst interest, "Let go of the girl, Mr. Potter." Snape demanded.

He did so and stepped back.

Upon being released Pansy shrieked, "He attacked me, Professor!"

"I have no doubt." Snape said, a malicious glint in his eye.

Hermione interjected, "Professor it was Pansy who started it and-" 

"Ms. Granger please refrain from interrupting me, five points from Gryffindore." 

"But!"

"Ten points and not another word." He snarled.

Draco stepped out from behind Harry, "She's right, Proffessor. Pansy attacked me and…Potter, was just assisting me in pulling her off of me. She should be punished and he should be gaining points for assisting me."

Snape looked at Draco curiously for several seconds before nodding, "Detention for Ms. Parkinson and ten points to Gryffindore. Now back to your potions, Parkinson please switch seats with your partner as you obviously are have an issue sitting by each other at the moment."

The classroom fell eerily quiet as everyone got back to work.

"Cut that up as finely as you can." Draco said softly, pointing at the bulb.

Harry did as he was told and chopped the bulb, later he stirred as Draco prepared the final ingredients but little was said between them except directions. The final step was allowing the potion to simmer for five to ten minutes in which it should change in hue to a darker more distinct shade. 

Draco dropped his hands to his lap and leaned back against the wall behind him with a sigh, "Now we just wait."

Harry nodded and turned on the bench slightly to face Draco, "Thank you for helping me out back there."

Draco opened his eyes, blushing lightly, "It was nothing."

"It was a lot more than nothing." Harry said softly, whispering so that his friends couldn't hear what he was saying, hoping not to draw their notice at all. He reached out and gasped Draco's hand, threading their fingers before the other boy could react and squeezed his hand gently. 

Draco looked down at his hand and back up at Harry, he opened his mouth to say something but closed it abruptly as Hermione butted in.

"Harry what are you talking to Malfoy about?" her voice was accusatory.

Harry faced Hermione, letting go of Draco's hand as he did so, "I was simply giving to him my sincerest thanks for his assistance and was about to invite him to a private luncheon and tea in my chamber so that we could discuss our where our relationship might be headed."

Ron quirked and eyebrow and Hermione shook her head, "That's what I get for trying to get an honest answer."

"It could be true." Harry said lightly.

"Yeah and hell could freeze over too." 

Harry shrugged and grabbed a quill and a shred of parchment from his bag, he quickly wrote, _Well? Have lunch with me?, _and pushed it in front of Draco. He frowned at it and casting a sidelong look before replying, _You were serious? _Harry answered, _Well, not about the tea part. _Draco chewed his lip and wrote, _If there's no tea then there is no way I can attend. A proper luncheon should have tea. _Harry read over what Draco had written and laughed attracting the attention of some of his classmates, he had to wait before replying, _Then there shall be tea. _and passing it to Draco. Draco smiled and scribbled just as the bell rang,_ I'll be there._


	4. Lunch Date

****

Lunch Date

The portrait swung open at Draco's first knock. He steppe in cautiously and cast about slowly until his eyes fell upon Harry. Harry with his long wild hair, falling down bout his face, his green eyes shining and as he saw Draco his face split into a brilliant warm smile.

"You're here." he said warmly, "I was afraid you wouldn't come."

Draco blushed lightly and replied, "Of course I came. You invited me and it would be outside the rules of edict to not show after already accepting the invitation."

"These rules of edict mean a lot to you?" Harry asked curiously as he gestured to one of the chairs by the fire, a table now standing between them with a tray of food on it.

"Not really," Draco relpied as he walked over to the chair and gingerly sat down, "They were just grilled into my head by my father that its become a sort of habit I can't get away from."

"Ah." Harry said as he sat across from Draco.

They sat in silence for a while the sound of the tea falling into the cups the only sound in the room. Draco added a lump of tea to his cup and they dined upon small sandwiches with no crusts and sweet pastry cakes filled with fruits and jam. 

"I would have never thought you one to add sugar to your tea." Harry said conversationally. 

"Because I'm so bitter?" 

"Yeah, something like that." Harry said with a laugh.

"Well you take your tea straight and your such a goody goody, so it really isn't saying much."

"True." Harry smiled.

For several moments a comfortable silence stretched between them. Draco nibbled upon a sandwich although he wasn't really hungry. Harry's proximity seemed to drain away his appetite, except for the hunger of his eyes which demanded the drink of Harry's visage and nothing else. 

"Why are you doing this?" Draco asked quietly, for a moment he was unsure as to whether Harry heard him.

"I told you before, I don't know."

"But…" Draco started awkwardly, "…I just don't understand it at all. You hated me didn't you? Then you just turn around and forgive me as if nothing ever happened. I want to know…how you feel about me…I want to know if I'm just wasting my time before I raise my hopes to high…"

Harry closed his eyes and sighed, leaning back into his chair, "I'll be honest with you…Draco,' He smiled as he said Draco's name, "I'm exactly sure of my feelings but I can tell you, that I can't stop think about you. I think that you are beautiful and that there is a good person underneath the mask that you wear. I think I could be…." He paused.

"You could be what?" Draco prompted hesitantly.

"That I could be falling in love with you. I haven't felt like this since I had my crush on Cho but, this is so different. I get the same butterflies and the same nervousness around you as I did her but when I'm around you I feel so warm inside, I want to talk with you, about anything even though I'm afraid I'll trip up and make a fool of myself."

"I wish I was as brave." Draco replied quietly, but this time he was smiling. A small smile but a smile regardless, "I'm happy." He then said suddenly, what he said seeming to shock him but he just smiled again as the shock wore off.

"I'm glad." Harry said, "This is the first time I've seen you smile, a real smile anyway." He leaned forward, a wave of his hand vanishing the food and trays from table separating them, "Tell me one of your love letters."

Draco blushed, "I can't…I can't say them, I can't even read them allowed once I've written them down. I can write you another before classes start again if you want. Not really love letters if they're not letters anyway."

"True." Harry replied. He then pulled out his bag and after a moment of rummaging pulled out a piece of clean parchment, ink and quill. 

Draco took them gingerly, blushing, "Don't watch me…please?"

Harry nodded and stood, walking back behind his chair with his back to Draco. Minutes passed, the light scratching of the quill and their breathing the only sound in the room. 

"Finished." Draco announced, moments after, the bell for the next classes rang. 

Draco stod and quickly gathered his things, just before he was a bout to leave he turned and walked over to Harry. Draco stood in front of him, watching his face and his eyes. A blush colored his face and he quickly leaned forward, kissing Harry hastily upon the lips before bolting out of the room.

Harry touched his lips and smiled, feeling the butterflies return, he went over to the table and picked up the letter Draco had left there

_Our private time goes by too quickly…_

If I could make each day longer, I would

Then we'd have a few extra hours 

To put aside all our obligations

And talk about all the things

We really enjoy

The things that bring us

Closer together

And if I could make each year longer,

I'd do that too.

Because there is so much more

I want to discover with you

And so many ways I still hope to show

Just how much you mean to me

And if I was given the chance

To live another lifetime,

I'd take it in a heartbeat…

…but only if I could spend it

With you*

TBC

* by P. Treacy


	5. Time Together

****

Time Together

Draco slipped through the shelves of the library and silently cursed himself for putting off his DADA report. He hated that class, not because it taught the defense against dark arts, something he was not proud to say that he was proficient in, but because no matter how hard he tried he was terrible in the class. He found the book he was looking for his research and made his way back to the table at the back of the library.

No one used the table and chair at the back, the legs were uneven, the table itself liked to give slivers and tipped over on occasion. The armchair was stained, smelled funny and a little poof of dust was emitted whenever someone sat down. Spiders were also very fond of the corner set. From what he could glean from other students the table and chair just appeared one day back there and refused to be moved or cleaned so they had been left. Draco had made them his own and after many months of tolerance and repeated visit's Draco came back one day to find a lavish chair of velvet and a table of the finest stained cherry wood in the place of the nasty chair and table that had been there before. Draco had continued to use it from that day on.

Draco paused before the table, laying down the heavy book in his arms and arranging it so that it wouldn't block the rest of his materials. He moved to sit down but before he could someone came up from behind him, grabbing him around the waist and pulling him down into the chair upon the grabbers lap. Draco started to cry out and struggle only to find a hand gently covering his mouth and arms that held him tight.

"Hush, Draco. It's only me." Harry's voice whispered lightly into his ear as he let go of Draco's mouth and curled his arm around Draco's waist.

"What are you doing?" Draco said, his face flushing.

"I'm holding you." Harry murmured back as he pulled Draco closer to himself, farther back into the chair.

"I need to work on my report." Draco protested weakly, not wanting him to let go.

"In a moment, just a moment."

Draco knew he shouldn't put off the report any longer but he let himself relax anyway, falling back into Harry embrace. He could feel his breath upon his neck smell the scent that was undeniably Harry's. He let his head fall back against Harry's and his hands slipped down to cover Harry's own. Their fingers intertwined and Draco could feel Harry's heart beating slowly against his back. The moment was perfect, Draco let his eyes close, listening to the sound of Harry's breath, to sound of his beating heart. Then, much too quickly the moment was over and Harry's arms disappeared from around his waist.

"What are you working on?" He asked softly.

"The defense against dark arts paper." He admitted sheepishly.

"That's due tomorrow isn't it? And it was assigned when? A week ago? Never thought you to be a procrastinator." Harry said, Draco could feel the playful smile upon his mouth.

"Only when it comes to this class."

"Well let me see if I can help."

They spent the better part of four hours working on that essay and when they were finished it was deep into the middle of the night, past midnight.

"My portrait's sealed." Harry said as he glanced at his watch.

"I'm sorry," Draco said softly, "You shouldn't have stayed with me."

Harry snorted, "And be locked in that dungeon alone for the rest of the night? I'd rather spend my night with you, no contest."

Draco flushed at the comment, "But where will you stay for the night and why hasn't Dumbledore noticed that you're missing?"

Harry laughed, pulling a hand through his hair, "I could just as easily stay here and Dumbledore doesn't know everything. I have a few tricks up my sleeve that no one knows about."

Draco's fidgeted for a moment then said quietly, "You could stay with me…I wouldn't mind."

Harry smiled warmly, "Neither would I and it would give me time to talk to you about something I've been putting off till now."

A heavy weight sank to the bottom of Draco's gut. He wondered what it could be that he wished to talk about and though he tried he couldn't escape the idea that it was something horrible. Draco gathered up his things, Harry taking half and linking hands he led Harry through the maze of bookshelves, then hallways. He stopped in front of the Slyherin entrance forcing himself to concentrate on remembering what the password was and not the fact that he was bringing Harry to his dorm.

Harry watched the tense lines of Draco's shoulders as he pulled the invisibility cloak from his robe and pulled it around himself. As Draco spoke the pass and turned around to find no one there. Harry grinned slightly, taking in the confusion on Draco's face and how adorable he became when he let down his defenses around Harry. That deep, curling, hot, giddy feeling reemerged, starting in his stomach and spreading through his entire body, lodging itself in his chest and loins. He bent down and caught Draco's lips with his own, his eyes opened wide with shock for a moment but once inside the hood he could see Harry. He frowned, almost pouted as he pulled away, pulling the hood from Harry's head and glaring accusingly at him.

"That was a bloody mean thing to do. I thought you had gone and left me here alone and then you go and scare me half to death…."

Harry felt a small drop of fear take place with the abstract and irrational fear that Draco would suddenly change his mind about how he felt and leave Harry there. He reached out of the caught Draco's hand clasping it tightly.

"I'm sorry, I never do it again, I'll never leave you." He paused at his own words and was startled to realize that he meant it, he never wanted to leave him. He had had barely two days, not even that, with this new, unmasked Draco. There was no rational way to explain his feelings. He couldn't understand it, couldn't explain it and for some reason he had the feeling that it wasn't meant to be understood. As if was caught up in the strings of fate, for the first time really seeing past all his misgivings and preconceived notions about everyone and everything, especially Draco. He felt naked to the world and blind to its workings, he was afraid every step he made was simply a dream ready to crumble under him or that it was all a horrible trick. He had this feeling that he was being offered something incredible and would never have this chance ever again.

He took a deep breath and squeezed Draco's hand comfortingly, looking into Draco's face, now flushed a bright red, "I should've warned you. I was afraid someone might still be up in your common? I know there still would be in my wing."

"…I didn't mean to snap at you, you're right….I was just…scared."

Harry smiled as he pulled the hood back over his head and his hands disappeared within the folds of the cloak.

"I'll be right behind you," he whispered softly in Draco's ear.

Draco shivered silently, feeling his breath upon his neck and walked into the Slytherin common.


End file.
